1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an information processing system, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional technology for managing information on authority to use an application that is installed in, for example, an image processing apparatus (hereinafter, may be referred to as “license information (use authority information)”) is known.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-250997 discloses a configuration in which an MFP manages license data containing at least the application ID of an application and an expiry date (exemplary license information) and, in a case where the current time is over the expiry date when the application is started, performs control to update the license information on the application. With respect to the technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-250997, the license information on the application that is used by the MFP is issued by a predetermined license management server and the MFP communicates with the license server to update the license information (such as the expiry date).
In recent years, there are many cases where an application for which authority to use the application is determined by license information that is uniquely defined by a vender different from a maker that manufactures the main unit of a MFP is installed in the MFP and used. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-250997 however does not disclose a configuration for, in a case where an MFP uses an application for which authority to use the application is determined by license information that is issued by a server different from a license management server, acquiring and managing the license information. In other words, there is a problem that, when the sources of issue of pieces of license information on multiple applications that are installed in an information processing apparatus, such as an MFP, differ from one another, it is not possible to manage the pieces of license information collectively.